Rabbi Avi Berman

Director-General

Rabbi Avi Berman was Director-General of OU Israel only four days when the second Lebanon war broke out. Within days, he instituted a series of programs to bring aid to beleaguered Israelis living in bomb shelters or forced to leave their homes. The spirit of Rabbi Berman’s first days as director continues to invigorate and expand OU Israel’s educational and outreach initiatives, reaching out to Israelis across the country.

After making aliyah at age nine, Rabbi Berman was raised in Kedumim, Maaleh Adumim and Har Nof. He studied at the Hesder Yeshiva in Shilo, served in the IDF and then returned to Yeshiva for his smicha. In Shilo, Rabbi Berman ran the Bnei Akiva post high school Midrash Torah and Avodah program and recruited students annually in South Africa and Australia. He spent five years as NCSY Regional Director in Vancouver where he took a chapter of 30 and built a new NCSY region with 500 participants across Western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest.

Rabbi Berman’s vision as Director-General of OU Israel is to improve the lives of the Jewish people in Israel through a deep sense of understanding and compassion.